Article 1 - "GOING WITH THE INTERNAL FLOW" by Jessica Kuzmier July 2008 edition of First Church of The Streets

     Much of Western culture has to do with striving towards perfection. It is going after Plato's concept of beauty, or just being the best guy on the team. This is how society continues to thrive, goes the thinking. Keep moving forward in the outer world, change your look, get a degree. Fix the outside so that the larger world that one exists in becomes better in the process. If you're a better singer, the quality of culture will go up. Improve your physique, and it will be a better indicator of a healthy society. Besides, maybe the opposite sex will start to notice you more, especially if you have a glowing tan.

     Striving for external perfection has its benefits, for while it is an impossible goal to ever attain in any stretch of the imagination, at least if people keep trying the society has a good chance of getting better and better. Competition is meant to instill this ethos of improvement on a larger level. The more one competes for a science grant, the more likely an innovative discovery will be made. Maybe a cure for cancer will come out of all the mayhem. Even athletic competition has this effect; because if someone can overcome a bad curve ball or learn to outsmart a cornerback they can learn to take those skills into a larger context. Those who watch an athletic fairytale, such as the NFL underdog New York Giants defeating the previously unbeaten New England Patriots for the Super Bowl Championship, may learn that they should never give up on a goal no matter what. Improving the outside and the external does much to increase the quality of life of everyone involved.

     Of course, many times improving the outside can be a mask for skimping on improving on what is inside, or serve as a substitute. If one has a great job, clean and neat home, nice clothes and looks fashionable, what more can a person want? It seems from this package that this person cares enough about himself and his environment to clean it up, so it certainly can come off as a mark of character that one has all the outside sidewalks cleaned up. It may seem that it is good enough for one to have the outside look good, because that in itself entails a lot of work, and is contingent on the approval of others. If the neighbors and my boss approves, it must be good. Seeking this kind of approval is a kind of empathy, after all, one is concerned about what others think of him when one is concerned about what the lawn looks like. The question is whether this kind of external, superficial empathy is enough to be a true mark of character.

     Why is this even important to consider such a question? If one has general esteem from his community for things that he conforms to, it seems like getting all concerned about the inside is overkill, after all, everything seems to be going okay. Where the internal mark of character comes into play for this contented individual is if his static environment changes, and the stable society he has created through external changes are no longer relevant. It could be a rash of foreclosures running through the neighborhood, a weather disaster, or something personal to him such as illness or divorce. If maintaining an image is no longer relevant because the image is no longer there, will his motivations be enough to maintain the superficial empathy he has cultivated, or is the character not deep enough to sustain the changes? This is like someone who has planted seeds in shallow ground; perhaps it will sustain, perhaps it will not (Mark 4:16-17).

     Developing character on a deep level is a work that not many will necessarily see. One who maintains character on a superficial level has the benefit of the praise of many, but those who choose other levels, whether in addition to or instead of the surface level, may not necessarily get the approval that from the outside world. Much of the book of Ecclesiastes is learning how one applies a deeper wisdom to the practical world around him, but despite this practicality, one may be questioned for his motivation in a fast paced world. Consider the admonition of there being a time and a season for all things (Eccl. 3:1-2). The idea of going with the flow of things is somewhat contrary to a culture that believes in turning everything around, grabbing opportunities and making something of them no matter what, and never quitting. One may seem to be somewhat flaky or unstable to those who think a can-do attitude and perseverance are the be-all to whatever circumstance takes place. And it can be hard to refute: try to counter a perky optimist who refuses to give up. It may feel in doing so one is giving into some undiagnosed clinical depression, or at the very least, has a lousy attitude that will bring down the neighborhood.

     A deeper empathy cultivates the wisdom of seeing all angles, which is a long term way of going about one's life. One may wonder what the meaning of life is in all the hustle and bustle of everyday life, just as the Preacher did (Eccl. 1: 1-2, 13). Wisdom in everyday affairs helps an individual mitigate the smallest details and the largest patterns, and allowing the now of the moment will let a person know when the time and the season of something should come to pass. A world of changing culture may change the rules at any time, but the flow of life still remains throughout it all. One can fight the current to make things go his way to impress others with all his effort, or he can go with the flow of the river and allow the ebbing and flow to change him. In this flow, the deepest of empathy comes to be born as one learns to see what is around him. Wisdom comes from recognizing this pattern, no matter what it is that takes place in the external world around a person. Wisdom is the guide in an ever changing world.